Skills that Kills...

Alisha is good at taking pictures. Lacey is good at getting babies to smile. Kiara is good at editing pictures. Aren' these two little cousins super cute! They aren't even paying attention and they made a great shot. Many more to come!

We Miss Daddy...

Across the Country and Halfway Back

Avery and I left Tuesday afternoon for Madison, Alabama. We had a five hour flight from LA to Atlanta and then a 30 minute flight to Huntsville. The 5 hour flight was about all Avery could handle. She was great the first 2 hours but the no naps settled in. We were by the window by a guy who was tinky and took up some of our room and didn't want anything to do with a baby. Avery kept looking at him and trying to smile but he wouldn't look at her. She wanted to touch his arms but I had to keep her away so we wouldn't annoy him. So she wasn't having the best of time. She finally fell asleep but I was uncomfortable and tried to move her and she woke up mad. So I had to stand up with her and when she fell asleep I went to go back to my seat but the cart was in my way so I had to stand holding a 20 lb sleeping baby for a half hour. I think I might have broke my back. As I was standing there I was watching a screen that showed where the airplane was on the map. We flew right over Oklahoma, then Madison, AL to Atlanta. The whole time I was wishing I could just jump out to any of those places since that was where we were going. We finally made it to Alisha's and it was fun to see the girls. They were excited to see us and that was fun. The next morning we woke up and traveled 6 hours to Little Rock and then on Thursday we traveled another 4 to Tulsa. Avery was about traveled out. We were so excited to get to Nuna and Papa's house. Here are some pictures of our trip!

The back seat. Nathan did pretty good except for the times that he just had to pester his sisters. The girls were good mostly because Alisha was an amazing mom and had activities galore for them.Here is cute little Kenadie. She really is so little compared to Avery. The babies were the best on the trip and slept a lot of the way.
Here is sweet Avery. She is loving on a little toy. I think she fell asleep soon after this picture. Look at those sleepy eyes (I think I am a decent picture taker from over the seat).
We stopped at a gas station and took a break. The older kids got icees and sat on the porch.
The babies were fed in the front seat. It was a much needed stop and made the trip a little more doable.

So we made it safely and we are having a great time. We had some adventures on our way out here like a speeding ticket, a baby base not being buckled in though the baby was buckled to the car seat, poop on a seat, a threat from a hillbilly to call the DHR, and ripping of a toll booth 3 cents. But all in all it was fun!

Girlfriends...

truly great friends are hard to find,
difficult to leave,
and impossible to forget.
- author unknown

I have been incredibly lucky throughout my life to have dang good girlfriends. I met two of my best friends in first grade and we just gained more girls with time. In middle school we had a group of eight of us and we called ourselves SMAL JACK. Dumb, I know, but let's remember we were in middle school. We spent every free minute we could together. As I went into high school we opened up our little circle and I had tons more girlfriends. Most of them I could call at any time and ask for anything and they would be there. When I moved to Utah to go to school, I was super sad to be leaving all of my girls, most of them went to the same school so I was totally feeling left out and wondering what in the world I was doing going all the way to Utah.

Little did I know that I would gain some more amazingly beautiful girlfriends who have seriously changed my life forever. These girls took me in and it has never been the same since. I can't think of any better people than those girls. I love them to death.

Moving to California has been a great experience and it has helped me realize the importance of good girlfriends. I miss them all so much and it makes me sad that one day we all are going to leave Provo and start a new life (Brit already is... crazy!). Like this quote said, "true friends are hard to find," there are lots of girls out here that I could totally be friends with but they won't take the place of the girls I have now. I was talking to Linds and we decided that we are now unable to make new girlfriends because the people we meet don't match up to what we have. I am sure that one day I will learn and make new girlfriends, but I want all the girls in my life to know now how much I love them and how they have forever affected my life. You guys have made it hard for me to make new friends! But more importantly, you have made me more of the person I am today. I love you girls. Seriously!

Here are some pictures of my Provo girls:

Out to dinner with Lindsi and Kimba

Laney's baby shower. Congrats Laney on little Hank! Another addition to the cute babies! (Um, what is Ashley doing in this picture????)

Jackie before she left to be Ms. Amazing in Uganda.

Ashley visiting us in Huntington Beach! We LOVED having her here and I miss her!

Brittney and me at the beach when her and Sam came and visited us. FUN!

Lame-O!

I am a lame-o. I didn't take one picture of Michael's birthday. The computer is a lame-o because I do have a video of Michael's birthday but it won't let me upload it. So double lame-o.

On Michael's birthday he had to wake up at 6 and go to work. I am not a morning person at all and even more so when I am awoken in the night, so I decorated the house the night before while Michael was asleep. Avery and I made a couple banners and signs to hang around. So I stayed up late blogging and convinced Mike to go to bed. He finally did and was dead asleep so I snuck around and decorated. I wanted to wake up and make him breakfast, but as I stated before I am not a morning person so that didn't happen, sorry babe.

I made Mike lasagna for his birthday since it is his favorite, and we are still eating it because I made so much. Good thing he loves it. I also made marble cake with chocolate frosting because that is his favorite too. We just hung out and then had cake and ice cream and then played pin the tail on the donkey. FUN. Seriously. Michael and I played for a while.

On Friday we went out to California Pizza Kitchen with our friends for dinner and then they came over for games and cake. I hope Mike had a fun birthday because I enjoyed it!

25 Years...

That the world has been blessed with this HUNK!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

Best Half Year

It all started 6 months ago, December 4, 2007, when Avery made her way into the world. Our lives have changes drastically since then and I can't remember what it is like not to have her (except sometimes I do remember somewhat of being able to go out and stay out until I wanted without having another worry, but those days are so long gone my memory of them is beginning to fade). She has blessed our lives in every way possible. I don't think I have ever felt so much gratitude, humility, patience, love, and joy in my entire life. This was one of mine and Avery's first meetings. I remember looking at her and being awe stricken to think she was mine. I had a lot of thoughts that day: She is made up of half me and half Mike. I was never going to live a day without worrying about her. Where did those cheeks come from? Am I ever going to sleep again? I never want this baby out of my sight. Oh man I am so glad I can kiss those cheeks whenever I want. I am sure glad my Mom is here to go home with us because I have NO idea what I have gotten myself into. And so forth.
This was Avery at her two week appointment. It was the first doctor's appointment without my mom and they had to prick her heals. I was so scared and on the brink of crying, no wait, I cried. Look how beautiful she is. And SO little.
This is Avery at 1 month. She used to cuddle with Mike and I like this all the time. Now that she can put her head up and roll over we can't cuddle with her like this anymore. It kind of makes me sad. She is just getting so independent and wanting to be a part of the world around her that it is hard sometimes to just lay there and cuddle. That is why I loved the newborn stage. She just slept and cuddled. Can you believe how little she was?!
This is Avery at 2 months. She was starting to smile and this was one of the first smiles I got in a picture. Now she hands them out freely and I LOVE it. She has the cutest grin that could win anyone over.
This is Avery at 3 months. I thought her cheeks were big then! I remember taking those pictures and some with sunglasses. I thought she loved the sunglasses because when I put them on her they didn't seem to bother her, but now that she has working hands, those glasses don't stay on longer than 2 seconds. Darn.

For some reason I can't type under the next picture. THis is Avery at 4 months with her favorite auntie, Chia (sorry other aunties but Chia always came and played with her and cuddled with her and gave her toys, what's not to love). I love this picture. She looks like she is posing. I think around this time she started realizing what the camera was used for and if she wanted me to stop bothering her she had to smile... maybe?
This is Avery at 5 months. She was sitting, rolling, grabbing toys, and loving to play with anyone. She was a trooper through our move and started trying new foods. Her personality really started to shine through and it is still fun to see her quirks, likes, dislikes, and so forth. She has her ballerina toes going. I swear that girl is always pointing her toes.


And this is Avery at 6 months. Can you believe it? That little baby at the top of the page is now this big baby who can sit, babble, grab anything and everything within her reach (while leaning over... you would be surprised at the radius of space I have to watch out for), she can transfer objects from one hand to the next, play peek-a-boo, has two new teeth (if you click this picture bigger you can kind of see them, they are hard to get a picture of) and is starting to eat solids. Oh and her favorite thing to eat: her toes. Got to get that in a picture!
Avery and her new toy! It was very hard for her to look at the camera and not grab the toy but somehow it worked.
But not for long. She loves these toys, especially when she was in the bath. It was almost too much for her too handle!
This is me and my sweet sweet baby. She just melts my heart. She has started reaching for me when I go to grab her or when she is close to me. I LOVE it. There is no better feeling in the world than to know that she loves me as much (or close to) as I love her (besides my Michael, but that is tomorrow's post). She is just so much fun to be around and makes being a stay-at-home mom totally worth every second. Happy Half Birthday Missy Moo!

Free Offers

Oh man. I am annoyed. I am not usually a person that falls for gimmicks, but I do have weak moments and MAC make-up sure did take advantage. So you know when you get those email that are wanting to give you something for free even though you know it isn't as easy as typing in your basic info real fast. Like the other day, I got an email saying I had one of Rachael Ray's cooking kits waiting for me to claim. I had signed up to win some of her stuff earlier so I thought maybe I had won the drawing. Wrong. It came to a page that said fill this out and then you will be one step closer to actually getting your offer. So I closed it because I knew it wasn't worth the time. Well then for some reason I totally lost my head. I guess I just need new make-up but can't bring myself to spend money on it, I don't know, but MAC was giving away a little "free gift" so I just had to have it. I saw that it was the fill out the offer crap, but I kept going. So I fill out the first page of "no, I don't want to hear anymore about the 50 offers here." Then it took me a page to fill out about my choice of cigarettes. Well I tried to find the "I don't smoke" option but that wasn't available and I had to feel it out, so I clicked something about filtered cigarettes and that I was liking the brand that I was using which was under "other." I made it through and also through a psoriasis page that also did not have the option "I don't have psoriasis and don't need the medication." I made it through those any many other offer fill outs (by the way Mom I put my phone number as our old Madison number, so I hope that is okay, but I had to click something saying I was not giving fake info and if I was a could get in trouble, and I fell for it). And many more click yes or no to offers, but atleast click yes to one of these and fill it out. And then it said LAST STEPS! I was excited, but then continued to read and I had to fill out 2 silver offers. These cost money, so I am not really down with that. Mike has cheered me on and given me encouragement to not give up, but once money came into the picture that dropped. And now after two days of offers (I took breaks and left the window up) I am debating. Should I just fill out the offers and or should I stop because you know if there is silver there has to be gold... I will leave the window up one more day and see how I feel about it in the morning. Aargh. All I wanted was a measley make-up trial pack. I think I should just go buy it. Boo.